On introducing myself (again)

I went to see Bullet For My Valentine last Wednesday. It’s been a while (a very, very long while) since I’ve seen a metal band live. I have almost missed the — energy, as Dylan calls it. It’s why he loves metal music and seeing metal music live. We had an issue with him entering the venue because he had forgotten his photo ID. Despite having his blood donor card (with his date of birth and photo) and university card (with the same full name and a photo), some daft security guard held him back. I was already inside and another security guard wouldn’t let me out.

“I have a tattoo sleeve and facial hair too, how do you know I’m not 18?” Dylan exclaimed to me afterwards. Another security guard had given the daft one a WTF look and let him in.

Naturally, I was afraid of being trampled because I’m short and skinny, but Dylan did a good job of using his arm as a barricade for other people who were throwing themselves around and moshing like crazy. I had a good time at the gig, and Bullet played more songs from their previous albums than their current (which was very disappointing, in my opinion). I was pleased with their performance and really did enjoy the set of the opening band Cancer Bats.

Prior to that, I had class, and of course, there were introductions. You can’t really start a class, first day of the course, without introducing yourself. It’s almost inevitable that you do. On Monday, our introductions involved us sitting at groups of desks and introducing ourselves to the people at our desk. After ten minutes, we’d rotate by switching tables or switching seats, so that we’d have a new bunch of people to talk to and introduce ourselves to. I like that better, compared to Wednesday’s round of each person in the class taking turns to speak in front of everyone.

I find that I usually introduce myself as a web designer.

It comes out so naturally, that I end up saying it every time. It’s occurred to me that web design has been something I’ve been involved with more than half my life, and have studied, worked, and enjoyed intensively, compared to other interests and abilities I have.

Working in web design is great because it’s an ever-changing technology, and there are always new things popping up. I am always signing up to new newsletters, bookmarking things, looking for useful resources for both work and personal purposes — whether it be social media icons, fonts, vector graphics, WordPress themes for blogs, photoblogs or tailored to a certain industry, like 10 best poker themes. It’s interesting to see what other designers create, no matter what they are.

I find it a challenge to keep up to date with things sometimes, and there are so many new things to discover and talk about. I’ll actually be going to a workshop in a couple of weeks (paid for by work) which will do doubt sharpen my skills in CSS and responsive design. I wasn’t looking forward to it at first, but I guess I’m a little curious now. There is only so much you can really learn while reading, I guess — so having a course with practical exercises will hopefully be fun. (When I seemed unimpressed, Cal tried to convince me by saying they’d give me food. :P)

I don’t know why, but it’s very hard to admit that any kind of work is fun, which is why I’m a little hesitant and… I guess shy to say that I love my job. It sounds nerdy, and a bit strange, and maybe I also feel that way because most people don’t like their job. James mentioned that it’s freakishly sad that my hobby is my job (or the other way around). He said it’s like I come home and do exactly the same thing I do at work.

It’s a bit of a gem, really. All day I’m working on websites, and I come home and I do exactly the same thing. The obvious difference is that I’m doing it for myself and not for a client, unless I’m doing some freelance work.

So I introduce myself as a web designer, and sometimes it gets boring, but I leave it to my classmates to ask the questions about what kind of web design I do and if I like my job.

Of course, I tell them that I do.